Living out unrugged and clipping?

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samlf

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My mare is going to be in more work over this winter, so I'm thinking I will need to clip her.

She has, until now, lived out with loads of natural shelter unrugged. I really am loathe to rug her because she does such a good job herself, and we have natural hedgerows all round the field so any rugs would be ripped to shreds.

Is it fair to do just a bib clip and have her living out? I do have stables but with my work hours I cant really bring in overnight, and she doesn't like being in that long.
 
If you are only dong a bib clip I do not see the issue with not rugging. All our riding schools ponies and cobs had tummies and chests off and weren't rugged and lived out.
 
I apron clipped my son's pony last year and left her unrugged. She had access to field shelters/hedges and good hay. I actually needed her to do exactly what ponies should do over the winter and lost some weight but nothing that I was concerned about. Trace clips used to be done for working animals and they were fine.
 
Agree with the above. Even if it's just a 50g to keep off wind and rain, once you remove their natural protection you have to replace it.
 
I have blanket clipped but left bum on and he is unrugged, but...... He is chubby, has access to field shelter and its 15 degrees overnight, if it drops to normal overnight temps he will be rugged (anywhere near ten degrees overnight will be lightweight rug or if v windy, rain). I wouldn't normally leave unrugged overnight but tbh I have taken so little off as clipping so early.
 
Officially feeling like a bad mummy ,lightweight rug will be going on, has only been naked 2 nights and clip isn't a close one (can barely see clip line) but still ....
 
A minimal clip and living out unrugged is fine for most horses. Judge your own horse and see how he copes. People tend to over rug these days. Horses can warm up much easier than they can cool down!!
 
amymay said:
If you clip, you rug.
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How is rugging a horse with a bib clip going to help the horse? The rugs won't be covering the clipped areas and will flatten the horses naturally superior insulation making it void and chances are the rug will just make the top of the horse too warm and uncomfortable as the area under the rugs isnt clipped ......
 
fawaz said:
How is rugging a horse with a bib clip going to help the horse? The rugs won't be covering the clipped areas and will flatten the horses naturally superior insulation making it void and chances are the rug will just make the top of the horse too warm and uncomfortable as the area under the rugs isnt clipped ......
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This
 
Sorry you've clipped already? i assumed you were talking about in the winter, my horses, even the cushings one, have not got winter coats yet although they are starting to change. That's probably why you can barely see the clip line. They are both out at night unrugged, well they are still in fly rugs as we have still got flies around.
meesha said:
Officially feeling like a bad mummy ,lightweight rug will be going on, has only been naked 2 nights and clip isn't a close one (can barely see clip line) but still ....
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amymay said:
If you clip, you rug.
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Do you cover every bit of yourself with the same thickness of clothes in the winter? No, I thought not.

If the horse is cold, feed it more or rug it.

A horse stands with its bum to the weather. A bib clip is not exposed to the force of the wind, is not rained on and does not need a rug unless the horse is cold.
 
joycec said:
Do you cover every bit of yourself with the same thickness of clothes in the winter? No, I thought not.

If the horse is cold, feed it more or rug it.

A horse stands with its bum to the weather. A bib clip is not exposed to the force of the wind, is not rained on and does not need a rug unless the horse is cold.
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I'm not about to take a horse's natural protection from the weather and not compensate in some way by rugging it.
 
amymay said:
If you clip, you rug.
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Good grief - what happened to treating horses as individuals instead of one size fits all rules!!!

Whether or not to rug depends on the style of clip, the horse, current weather and field facilities! People on a forum can't tell you what's best for *your* horse based on their own experiences/preferences/geographical location. If your horse is happy and content without a rug and is suffering no unwanted side effects then leave him be, if *you* (who knows him better than anyone else and can see how much coat protection has been lost through clipping) believe he will be cold/uncomfortable then rug him!

It's quite warm here at the moment - I've not even dug lightweights out for mine yet (not clipped and probably won't be).
 
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It's not that black and white...if a horse or pony is hot in its winter coat while wandering around its field because nature has given it a coat that is too dense for the 'warmer than is normal for the time of year 'weather, then to clip them and then rug them is pointless!
My sheltand has a blanket clip and no rug all winter. The only time he is rugged is in persistently wet weather and that is not for warmth but because his dense coat just cannot dry off otherwise and he'll get rain scald.
 
I trace clipped mine because she had so much fur that even unrugged she was sweating under it and then in the nights the sweat still hadn't dried and left her chilled and dithering. Rugging over the top left her an even sweatier damp mess.

A narrow trace clip sorted it out - sweat dried off quicker, no dampness under her fur, no dithering and no need for a rug. She's a north swedish native horse, she lives out and has room to run about and build heat and she has ad lib forage when it's freezing tempuratures. Obviously this approach wouldn't work for every horse, but for mine it's the most comfortable.
 
_HP_ said:
It's not that black and white...if a horse or pony is hot in its winter coat while wandering around its field because nature has given it a coat that is too dense for the 'warmer than is normal for the time of year 'weather, then to clip them and then rug them is pointless!
My sheltand has a blanket clip and no rug all winter. The only time he is rugged is in persistently wet weather and that is not for warmth but because his dense coat just cannot dry off otherwise and he'll get rain scald.
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^^ This, I gave mine a low trace clip a few weeks ago due to the warmer weather and her being uncomfortable, to then put a rug on would have been stupidity and cause an overheated horse! She is still unrugged and will remain so unless she shows signs of needing a rug, which I doubt, heat rises and she has good insulation from the rest of her coat, it will also have grown through by the worst of the weather.

Years ago all the riding school ponies were trace clipped and kept unrugged with no ill effects, and the fact that many vets are now recommending it as a way of keeping ponies healthy speaks volumes it is all allowing for the individual horse and its environment.
 
AshTay said:
Good grief - what happened to treating horses as individuals instead of one size fits all rules!!!

Whether or not to rug depends on the style of clip, the horse, current weather and field facilities! People on a forum can't tell you what's best for *your* horse based on their own experiences/preferences/geographical location. If your horse is happy and content without a rug and is suffering no unwanted side effects then leave him be, if *you* (who knows him better than anyone else and can see how much coat protection has been lost through clipping) believe he will be cold/uncomfortable then rug him!

It's quite warm here at the moment - I've not even dug lightweights out for mine yet (not clipped and probably won't be).
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That's probably why I would never ask random people from all over the world on an open forum clipping/rugging needs of a horse which no one apart from the OP has probably ever met.

I would never clip my horses and not rug them. That is my opinion, based on when I clip, the weather where I live, the way I keep them, the way they maintain weight and the work which my horses are in.
 
amymay said:
If you clip, you rug.
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Surely that should be dependant on the weather conditions/the horse etc. When my mare gets clipped (usually a high chaser/blanket or hunter clip, probably the latter), she will be rugged according to the day. There have been many a time over the years that she has been left naked with a hunter clip, because it's warm enough to, and she holds her condition well.
 
Thanks for all your opinions everyone!

Obviously every horse is an individual but the point of a forum is to ask others experiences, isn't it?

She is a naturally hot horse - cant put a fly rug on her or she ends up dripping, hasn't been rugged the past two winters because she just didn't need it.

I really don't think I'd be able to rug in the field unless I stopped their access to the hedgerows (which would remove their natural shelter, and ability to forage a variety of plants) because they would end up ripped to shreds!

If she definitely needs clipping towards the end of October then I think I will take the plunge and just do a bib or neck and belly clip. They always have ad lib forage anyway.

Obviously if she then appears cold or loses lots of weight then I can put a rug on or increase her feed, change to haylage etc.
 
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